The Study Corner    

Here is an interesting article from OldTruth.com relating to the Independence day celebrations in many churches. There’s quite a bit of good discussion on it:

“If you are in a church where the flag falls out of the ceiling on the Fourth of July, and an honor guard comes down the isle with flags for each branch of the service. And if you are singing God bless America on ANY Sunday on real estate owned by God. If this is the stuff you tolerate on the Lord’s Day, it’s not far off from Asherah poles” (idols in the Old Testament).

That was Michael Horton of the White Horse Inn who said that, on a recent program entitled Christless Christianity which dealt with the many ways modern churches get away from centering on Christ as their primary message.

Read the rest of the article…

It’s been a while, and for that I feel bad. Not that many people read this, but that I have not been sharing. That was the original reason I decided to run this, to share my insight, and what God has revealed to me, nothing, new, just the Bible. For some this may seem new and odd, and for others it may seem revolutionary. I try to follow the example presented by Paul in the Bereans (Acts 17:11).

I recently did a study of 1 John 4:1-6 trying to get myself back on track in my studies and presentations of them here. Let me break this down in a simple paraphrase of the verses. (You can read the original at the above verse reference.)

There are many false prophets. The Spirit of God always confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. If a spirit does not say this, then it is not the Spirit of God. This anti-Christ spirit is in the world and active. We overcome them by having the true Spirit of God in us.

The world listens to them because it speaks from the world. We are of God, and all who know him listen to us. This is how we can separate the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

This is my personal paraphrase, I have learned it sometimes helps me truly digest a portion of biblical text better if i can put it into my own words.

I learned one thing very important thing from this text on this time through. It pointed out for me my personal fear of teaching and sharing. I had to truly understand that I had the Spirit of God, the Spirit of truth within to guide me. This has helped me move past the fear of presenting my studies here and elsewhere, and completely turn myself over to God’s guidance in my studies.

True biblical teaching is despised and rejected in favor of ministries and teachings which satisfy the current taste for eloquence, philosophical wisdom, and spectacular display of spiritual power. ef 1 Cor 1:22-25

1 John 4:6 (ESV) – “We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”

This story illustrates an important life lesson for all of us to remember.

During my second month of nursing school, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions, until I read the last one: “What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?” Surely, this was some kind of joke.

I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank.

Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade. “Absolutely,” said the professor. “In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say ‘hello’.” “I’ve never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.

Remember, just because you don’t need to notice, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t notice.

“And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” — Matthew 25:40 [ESV]

How do you view time?

Most of us view time as what we can get accomplished in a set amount of time.

God has a slightly different view.

Think about an hour without actually thinking about what that hour can produce. We think of Time and Space together.

Have you ever looked back and asked youself, “Where did that day (week, month, go”? So by asking this you are saying that you don’t feel like you accomplished enough in the 24 hours that where provided for you.